Tribal hatchery provides fish for future generations

The St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin have been running an aquaculture operation in Gaslyn, Wisconsin, since the mid-1980s — the fish they raise are stocked in local lakes. This allows them to continue traditional practices like spearfishing and also maintains a walleye population for the entire community to harvest.

Bonnie Willison, Wisconsin Sea Grant videographer, highlighted the aquaculture facility in a recent video showing tribal members harvesting small fingerlings and transferring them into a local lake.

Jamie Thompson, air quality outreach coordinator for the St. Croix Chippewa Indians, said, “I don’t think that communities know that the tribes are also restocking these lakes along with the DNR. They’re always planning for seven generations after the generation here.”

Thompson explained that area lakes no longer favor walleye reproduction due to changing environmental conditions, so stocking is needed. “It’s very rewarding for me to be able to stock these fish into a lake and then five or eight years later, see my family and my kids harvesting those fish – whether it’s ice fishing, whether it’s on a line, whether it’s spearing. It’s not just benefiting my kids, it’s benefiting other tribal families as well as anyone who uses these area lakes.”

Watch the video